Europe consumed all stored gas pumped in summer

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - Europe has depleted its stored gas pumped in the summer in underground gas storage facilities (UGS), Gazprom said on Monday, citing data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

"The volume of active gas in European underground storage facilities is 21.5%, or 7.9 billion cubic meters, less than last year's level,” Gazprom said, adding that 100%, or 47 billion cubic meters of the gas volume pumped in the summer season, has been consumed.

Gazprom warned of the serious risks caused by these low storage levels, with the daily capacity limited by Europe's technological capabilities. It added that the situation in the European market is closely related to that in growing Asian markets.

Speaking to the reporters on Monday, Gazprom Spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said Gazprom is fulfilling European consumer requests by supplying Russian gas via Ukraine for transit to Europe.

He said Gazprom supplied 105.8 million cubic meters as of Feb. 28, adding that on Feb. 27, Europe requested 107.5 million cubic meters, 2 million cubic meters less than deliveries under long-term contracts.